Locking means for cash registers



1955 K. H. TENOORT ET AL 2,715,498

LOCKING MEANS FOR CASH REGISTERS Filed Feb. 13, 1953 INVENTORS KARL H. TENOO 8| FRANZ O. WEND WW1 THEIR ATTORNEYS lFatented Aug. 16, 1955 LQCKING hiEANS l "R CASH REGISTERS Karl Heinrich Tenoort and Franz @tto Wendel, Berlin- Neukolln, Germany, assignors to The National Cash Register Company, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Maryland Application February 13, 1953, Serial No. 336,852

Claims priority, application Great Britain June 10, 1952 9 Claims. (Cl. 235-13tl} This invention relates to improvements in locking means for cash registers and the like.

The invention is illustrated as applied to a machine of the class shown in the co-pending application filed by Karl H. Tenoort on July 14, 1951, Serial No. 236,811 (now Patent No. 2,666,573), and in the United States patent to Ernst Breitling No. 2,299,763, the former disclosing a keycontrolled differential for the lever-set dilferential of the latter.

The principal novelty of the invention is the provision of a locking means for the machine release means, which locking means is operated by certain conventional keys on the keyboard.

A specific object or. the invention is to provide a means for locking the machine release means for a machine of the class to which the invention is shown as applied, which is rendered effective to lock tie machine release means upon depression of any one of certain keys of the keyboard, and which lock is rendered inetfective by the depression of other keys of the keyboard to render the looking means ineffective to thereby unlock the machine releasing means.

Another object of the invention is to make use of certain standard keys of the keyboard, having thereon usual characters, and located on the keyboard in an inconspicuous manner, for locking the machine release means when the operator leaves the machine unattended, and for unlocking the machine release means when the operator returns to the machine, such keys being unrecognizable as locking keys by unauthorized persons.

A specific object of the invention is to provide, for the main shaft of the machine, a locking means which is controlled by a plurality of the-highest value amount keys in the highest order amount key bank, which keys are selec tively operated to lock the machine releasing means for the main shaft and in combination to unlock the releasing means for the main shaft.

With these and incidental objects in view, the invention includes certain novel features of construction and combinations or parts, a preferred form or embodiment of which will be hereinafter described with reference to the drawing which accompanies and forms a part of this specification.

The drawing is an exploded perspective view of the release control mechanism showing its association with the keys in the highest order amount key bank, and showing the method of controlling the machine release mechanism.

General description The invention comprises a simple arrangement to enable the operator of a machine to look its machine releasing means against operation when the operator leaves the machine unattended. An insertable key is usually provided for this purpose in conventional locks, which key must be carried by the operator, and in many instances such keys are lost and come into the possession of an unauthorized person.

Arrangements are also known whereby, in the absence of a regular operator, the machine may be disabled to prevent unauthorized operation thereof, such as with the ob jest of effecting t.e falsification of the total in the machine, thereby obtaining access to the cash drawer. In one known arrangement, for example, a control lock, having a removable key, may be turned to a locking position to entirely lock the machine, as shown and described in the co-pending application of Frank R. iterner, Serial No. 46,165, filed August 25, 194-8 (now Patent No. 2,661,061, and in Patent No. 2,649,246, which is a division of application Serial No. 46,165). However, as the lock also controls other functions, such as resetting, it is not usual or desirable for its key to be put into the possession the machine operator.

in another machine which caters to individual accounting transactions made by several operators, and which may be provided with individual cash drawers, there have been provided withdrawable operators control keys, which, when removed, prevent the operation of the components of the machine related to the particular operator, as disclosed in United States Patent No. 1,761,571, issued to Wilhelm Kropri on June 3, 1939. in this case, the operator has to carry the key, which not only is inconvenient but is always liable to be mislaid.

The present invention provides a simple and inexpensive means whereby, without the use of any removable key, and by means of a variable and foolproof arrangement, the operator can temporarily and conveniently lock the machine against operation by unauthorized persons during his absence.

The invention comprises a cash register or similar accounting machine, including a plurality of amount keys, a main shaft, a driving mechanism for the main shaft, a rocking device actuated by depression of one of a certain predetermined number of the amount keys to prevent actuation of the driving mechanism, and a disabling device actuated by depression of at least one other of said amount keys to disable the locking device, thereby permitting release of the driving mechanism for actuation.

In the present illustration, the amount keys selected for locking the machine-releasing means are the five highest value keys of the highest order amount bank of keys; that is, the keys 5 to 9 inclusive. This reduces the capacity of the highest order bank to 4; for example, in a machine having four banks of amount keys, the maximum amount settable on the keyboard would be $49.99.

Only the highest order amount bank is illustrated herein, since the lower order amount banks of keys are of the usual amount bank construction, which is well known in the art.

As illustrated herein, the 5, 7, and 9 value amount keys were selected to lock the machine release means, and the 6 and 8 value keys were selected to unlock the machine-releasing means. The construction is such that any of the keys may be selected for either of these functions, and the example herein is provided for illustrative purposes only. The locking and unlocking keys are provided with the usual indicia provided in amount banks, and no special identification marks are provided thereon, so that they are not distinguishable by unauthorized persons as having any special control over the machine. In outward appearance, the higher order amount bank is like any other amount bank.

When the controls are constructed as illustrated herein and the operator desires to lock the machine, he depresses either the 5 key, the 7 key, or the 9 key. These keys are not held depressed and are returned to normal position immediately upon release of pressure thereon. This operation actuates a lock to prevent operation of the machine release mechanism, and therefore the machine cannot be operated; or, if a motor-driven machine is used, the motor bar also may be locked against depression. In

the present disclosure, only a manually-operated machine is used to illustrate the invention.

When the operator desires to unlock the machine he depresses the 6 key and the 8 key in any order, or simultaneously, which disables the lock to permit normal machine release operations.

Detailed description The machine is provided with a main operating shaft 1, which is supported between the side frames of the machine in the usual manner, and the shaft has secured thereto a locking disk 2, having a notch 3, in which a lug 4 of a locking member 5 normally engages. If desired, this disk 2 can be secured to the side of any one of the gears usually provided on the main shaft, which shaft is actuated either by a manually-operable handle, or by an electric motor, neither of which is shown herein.

The locking member 5 is pivoted on a stud 6, secured in the right side machine frame (not shown), and carries a stud 7, engaging a bifurcated end 8 of an arm 9, on a bail 10, having holes 11 and 12 in bent-over ends thereof for pivotal mounting on studs (not shown), which studs are mounted, respectively, in the right and left side frames of the machine. A spring 13, secured to the arm 9 and to a stud in the right side frame, normally urges the bail 1t) counter-clockwise to maintain the locking member 5 in the normal locking position, as shown in the drawing.

The highest order amount key bank comprises four keys 15, mounted in a key frame (generally indicated at 16) and secured in the machine in a convenient manner, depression of which keys controls the entry of amounts into the machine. In the usual manner, by mechanism not shown herein, the amount keys are automatically latched down when depressed and are automatically released near the end of the machine operation, so as to be restored to undepressed position by their usual restoring springs. Each amount key 15 carries a stud 14, which is adapted to cooperate with a related camming notch 17 in a machine release slide 18, associated with the key bank and freely mounted at each end on studs 19, secured to the key frame 16, so as to move the slide 18 upwardly, against the tension of a spring (not shown), when one of the amount keys 15 is depressed.

The release slide 18 has a nose 20, adapted to cooperate with a depending portion 21 of the bail when the slide is moved upwardly, so as to rock said bail clockwise about the studs engaging in the holes 11 and 12, whereupon the arm rocks the locking member 5 counterclockwise about the stud 6 to remove its locking lug 4 from locking engagement with the notch 3 in the looking disk 2. The main shaft 1 is now free to be rotated by the handle to operate the machine to enter the amount represented by the depressed amount keys.

Each lower order amount bank of keys is also provided with a release slide 18, and each key 1 to 9 of the lower order amount banks of keys actuates its asso ciated release slide 18, to rock the bail 18 to withdraw the locking lug 4 from the notch 3 in the locking disk. Thus the depression of any key 1 to 9 of the lower order key banks, or a key 1 to 4 of the highest order bank of keys, will cause the bail 10 to be rocked. A depending portion 21 is provided adjacent each slide 18 in the lower order amount banks.

It will also be understood that, when the main shaft 1 is rotated by the electric motor, the locking member 5 either can cooperate with a notch in the stem of the usual motor bar, to prevent depression of the latter, or can be arranged so as to open normally closed contacts in the motor circuits so that the main shaft 1 cannot be driven by the motor while the locking member 5 remains in its locking position.

The upper five positions in the highest order amount key bank are occupied by the control keys with which the present invention is concerned. These keys are numbered in arithmetical progression with the amount keys, so as to be indistinguishable therefrom by the general public. There are two groups of these control keys; that is, locking keys 22 and unlocking keys 23. These keys are not latched down upon depression but are springrestored when finger pressure is removed therefrom.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, the 5,1 7, and "9 keys have been used as locking keys, and the keys 6 and 8, in combination, have been used as unlocking keys, but these arrangements can be varied as desired, within the capacity of the keyboard. For example, there are ten possible unlocking combinations, as follows:

5 key with 6 key; 5 key with 8 key; 6" key with 7 key; 6 key with 9 key; 7" key with 9 key;

5 key with 7 key 5 key with 9 key; 6" key with 8 key; 7 key with 8 key: 8 key with 9 key.

If desired, these unlocking keys could be used in combinations of threes, so as to provide an additional six unlocking combinations.

The bail 10 also has a depending portion 24, in addition to the depending portion 21. Two latching pawls 25 and 26, pivotally mounted on studs 27, suitably supported in the machine framework, are adapted, respectively, to engage these depending portions.

The tail of the pawl 25 has therein a stud 128, which extends into a cam slot 129 in a slide 30, and the tail of the latch pawl 26 has therein a stud 28, which projects into a cam slot 29 in a slide 31. The slides 30 and 31 are freely supported on a pair of studs 32, which are conveniently supported in the key frame 16 and which are indicated only diagrammatically.

Long studs 34, secured to the stems of the 5, 7, and 9 keys of the control keys 22, cooperate with camming surfaces 33 on the slides 30 and 31, so that said slides will be moved forwardly when any one of these three control keys is depressed.

A detent or locating arm 35 is pivotally mounted on a stud 36, suitably supported in the machine framework, and carries a stud 37, which, under urgency of a spring 38, secured to the arm 35, cooperates with one side or the other of teeth 39 and 40, formed on the slides 30 and 31, respectively, so as to retain said slides resiliently in either their forward position or their rearward position.

A long stud 41, secured to the side of the stem of the 6 control key 21, cooperates with a cam surface 42 on the slide 30; and a long stud 43, secured to the side of the stern of the 8 control key 23, cooperates with a camming surface 44 on the slide 31.

Operation The operation of the parts above described will now be explained.

When the machine is in its normal condition, the lug 4 on the locking member 5 engages the notch 3 in the locking disk to prevent rotation of the main shaft.

Depression of any of the amount keys 15, however, moves the respective slide 18 rearwardly, whereupon its nose 20 contacts with the respective depending portion 21 of the bail 10, rocking the latter clockwise to rock the locking member 5 counter-clockwise, freeing the main shaft for rotation by means of the usual operating mechanism. The machine executes a cycle of operation to enter into a totalizer an amount corresponding to the depressed amount keys, and the amount keys are released in usual manner at the end of the operation.

When it is desired to temporarily lock the machine against operation, the operator depresses any one of the three control keys 22, which, when finger pressure is released, immediately returns to its undepressed position under control of the usual restoring spring.

Depression of any one of the control keys 22, through the appropriate one of the studs 34 engaging the camming surfaces 33, simultaneously moves the slides 30 and 31 forward, so that the teeth 39 and 40 move under the stud 37, thereby retaining the slides 30 and 31 in their forward positions after the key 22 has been restored.

Forward movement of the slides 30 and 31, through the cooperation of the cam slots 29 and 129 with the studs 28 and 128, respectively, simultaneously rocks the latches 25 and 26 clockwise around their pivot studs 27, so that their noses engage behind depending sections 21 and 24 of the bail 10, preventing clockwise movement of the latter, so that the main shaft 1 is locked against rotation. Since the bail cannot rock, its depending portions 21 and 24 obstruct any rearward movement of the release slides 18, and therefore none of the amount keys can be depressed at this time. Thus the machine is entirely locked against operation by any unauthorized person after one of the control keys 22 has been depressed and subsequently released.

When it is desired to unlock the machine, the operator depresses the keys 6 and 8 of the group of keys 23, either simultaneously or successively. Depression of the control key 6, through its long stud 41, in cooperation with the cam surface 42 of the slide 30, moves said slide rearwardly, thus rocking the latch counter-clockwise about its pivot stud 27, through the cooperation of the slot 129 with the stud 128, thus removing the upturned nose of said latch 25 from behind the rear surface of the section 24 of the bail 10, the tooth 39 riding under the stud 37.

Although the latch pawl 25 has now been disabled, it will be appreciated that the machine is still locked against operation, since the latch pawl 26 is still effective.

The operator now depresses the key 8, which, through the cooperation of its stud 43 with the cam surface 44 of the slide 31, moves said slide rearwardly, rocking the latch pawl 26 counter-clockwise on its pivot stud 27, through the cooperation of the cam slot 29 with the stud 28, thus removing the nose of said latch pawl from engagement behind the rear surface of the left-hand section of the depending portion 21 of the bail 10.

Since both of the latch pawls 25 and 26 have now been removed from locking engagement with the bail, depression of any one of the amount keys 15, through the nose 20 on the respective slide 18, will rock the bail 10 clockwise to remove the locking lug from the notch 3 of the disk 2, as previously stated, to free the machine for rotation of the main shaft 1, upon rotation of the driving handle.

From the foregoing it will be clear that, in the particular embodiment shown, to temporarily lock the machine the operator has to depress one of the keys 5, 7, or 9, whereas to unlock the machine it is necessary to press the 6 key and the 8 key in any order of succession, or simultaneously.

It will be apparent that, if desired, only one latching pawl could be provided, so that, to unlock the machine after the pawl has been actuated to locking position, it would be necessary to press only one of the keys of the control group 23. However, by providing two latching pawls, which have to be disabled by depression of two control keys, a more complex and foolproof unlocking system is provided.

Since, to all outward appearances, the control keys 22 and 23 are similar to the keys 15 of the highest order key bank, no indication is provided to the uninitiated of the functions of the control keys, and, even if one of the locking control keys was depressed by an unauthorized person, thus locking the machine, it would be extremely difiicult, if not impossible, for him to determine how to unlock the machine.

While the form of mechanism shown and described herein is admirably adapted to fulfill the objects primarily stated, it is to be understood that it is not intended to confine the invention to the one form or embodiment disclosed herein, for it is susceptible of embodiment in various other forms.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a main operating shaft, means to normally lock the main operating shaft against operation, a first plurality of manipulative devices to actuate the means to thereby unlock the main shaft, latching means normally disengaged from the locking means and movable to engage the locking means to lock the locking means against actuation by the first plurality of manipulative devices to prevent operation of the machine, a second plurality of manipulative devices, slides operatively connected to the latching means and moved out of normal position into moved position by certain of the second plurality of manipulative devices to move the latching means into engagement with the locking means, and a member to flexibly maintain the slides in moved positions, said slides actuated by certain other of the second plurality of manipulative devices to restore the slides out of moved positions to normal positions, to restore the latching means to normal positions.

2. In a machine of the class described, the combination of an amount keyboard, a plurality of control keys, a main shaft, a normally effective locking member for the main shaft, a release mechanism actuated by depression of any amount key to disable the locking memher, a plurality of control keys, a control slide, a latching device actuated by the slide, said slide actuated by depression of one of a certain predetermined number of said control keys to move in one direction to move the latching device into engagement with the release mechanism to thereby latch the release mechanism against actuation by the amount keys, and a disabling mechanism actuated by depression of at least one other of said control keys to move the slide in another direction so as to withdraw the latching device from engagement with the releasing mechanism to thereby permit release of the main shaft under control of the amount keys.

3. In a machine of the class described, having an amount keyboard, the combination of a plurality of control keys disposed in the same key bank as the highest order amount keys, a main shaft, a normally effective locking member for the main shaft, a release mechanism actuated by depression of any one of the amount keys to disable the locking member, a control slide, a latching device actuated by the slide, said slide actuated by depression of one of a certain predetermined number of said control keys to move the slide from a normal position into a moved position to thereby move the latching means into a position to latch the release mechanism against actuation by the amount keys, and a disabling mechanism actuated by depression of at least one other of said control keys to move the slide from said moved position back to normal position so as to disable the latching device to permit the release of the main shaft by the amount keys.

4. In a machine of the class described, having an amount keyboard, the combination of a plurality of control keys, a main shaft, a normally effective locking member for the main shaft, a release mechanism including a bail for disabling the locking member, a release slide coacting with the bail and actuated by depression of any one of said amount keys so as to actuate the bail, a pair of slides, and a pair of latching pawls actuated by the slides, said slides simultaneously actuated to move in one direction upon depression of certain of a predetermined number of said control keys to latch the bail against actuation by the amount keys, said slides moved in another direction by depression of at least one other of said control keys to disable the latching devices to permit release of the main shaft under control of the amount keys.

5. In a machine of the class described having an amount keyboard, a plurality of control keys, a main shaft, a normally effective locking member for the main shaft, a release mechanism including a bail connected to the locking member, a release slide actuated by depression of any one of said amount keys so as to actuate the bail and the locking member, a pair of latching pawls simultaneously acted upon by depression of one of a certain predetermined number of said control keys to latch the bail against actuation by the amount keys, said slides arranged to hold both the latching pawls simultaneously in actuated positions to latch the bail, and disabling mechanism actuated by depression of a plurality of other of said control keys to permit independent return movement of the pawls to unlatching positions under control of certain keys.

6. In a machine of the class described having an amount keyboard, the combination of a plurality of control keys, a main shaft, a normally effective locking member for the main shaft, a bail connected to the locking member, a slide actuated by any amount key to actuate the bail and render the locking member ineffective, a release mechanism, including a pair of actuating slides, a pair of latching pawls adapted to be moved by the actuating slides to lock the bail against operation by the amount keys, a stud on each pawl engaging a cam slot in the related one of the two slides, and cam surfaces on the actuating slides adapted to be engaged by studs on the related control keys so as to simultaneously actuate said actuating slides and thereby actuate the latching pawls When the related control keys are depressed.

7. A combination according to claim 6, including a locating arm adapted resiliently to retain both actuating slides in actuated positions after one of said related control keys has been restored to undepressed position. 8. A combination according to claim 7, in which each actuating slide is provided with an unlocking cam surface, each of said unlocking cam surfaces cooperating with a stud on a related one of certain of the control keys, whereby each actuating slide is positively restored,

upon depression of its related control key, against the action of the locating arm.

9. In a machine of the class described, having an amount keyboard, a main operating shaft, a locking disk on the shaft, a notch in the locking disk, a locking pawl having a flange normally engaged with the notch in the locking disk to prevent rotation of the main shaft, a bail connected to the locking member so as to be operable thereby, a projection on the bail, a slide engageable with the projection of the bail, a stud on each amount key engageable with a related notch in the slide, whereby the slide is operated on depression of an amount key, said slide thereby rocking the bail and the locking member to withdraw the flange from the notch in the disk on the main shaft to permit rotation of the shaft, a plurality of control keys located in one of said amount banks, projections carried by certain of the control keys, a pair of slides having cam edges thereon which are engaged by the projections on said control keys to actuate the slides upon depression of any one of said control keys, a pair of latching pawls engageable with projections on the bail, said cam means acting to move the pawls into engaging position with said projections on the bail so as to lock the bail against movement by the slide to thereby prevent depression of an amount key, and projections on other of said control keys coacting with cams on said slides to restore said slides to normal positions to thereby withdraw the pawls from engagement with the bail, to permit the bail to thereafter be actuated by the first-named slide, upon depression of an amount key.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNETED STATES PATENTS 

